


They Are Not the Demons I Thought They Were

by Kitkat123_Storm (Torrent_River123)



Series: The Wolf Pack [1]
Category: Original Work, Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Gen, Moon-rock, Panic-room, Pups, Wolves, whip
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-01
Updated: 2020-05-01
Packaged: 2020-05-14 01:33:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,922
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19263283
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Torrent_River123/pseuds/Kitkat123_Storm
Summary: Nakalia is sent out to fulfill the mission of retrieving the "Eye".On the way, she met up with a wolf pack.Little did she know that this is only the beginning of a new journeyInspired by SkylerSkyHigh





	They Are Not the Demons I Thought They Were

**Author's Note:**

> This is a collab done with my friend Zach
> 
> Thanks for you ideas, plot line, and work

#  **Northern Gate of Konya**

##  **The next morning**

 

Hours enduring the incessant bangs, thumps, and speech of the uncountable carts flooding in and out of the city of Konya had been engraved into Nakalia’s eardrums. Even through the noise and clamour, which condensed and collected into a buzz as if the travellers were a swarm of locusts, she had been in awe at the height of the entrance when she first saw it. The surrounding wall, patrolled often by watchers with telescopes, was decorated with banners depicting dice and coins and colorful paintings depicting gods and heroes. The gates themselves consisted of two pillars inlaid with gold leaf designs, standing straight into the sky and shining in the late-morning sun. 

Nakalia’s thirst and tiredness, and the fact that the shining gold took a fancy to boring into her eyes, had drained her of her wonder. Little nabs of pain had taken to her legs, which were impeded from the weight of her luggage. A cruel flower of a headache blossomed in her head. The llamas in front of them must have been sick from malnourishment or heat, which was quite unpleasant to put it lightly. To add to her list of inconveniences, it seemed as if the guards at the gate were questioning for some kind of documentation, if the shouts she heard from up the queue served her well. She wasn’t certain, and the former slave driver hadn’t been much help, although that was sort of a given.

Just when pangs of hunger began to set in to soil her mood, Nakalia was called up to be inspected by a guard. He wore a thin, white drape and darker trousers, a worn, yellow banner depicting a die hanging over his shoulder. A loaded crossbow sat in their office. 

The officer motioned her over with a hand wave. 

“Morning ma’am. What have you in these packs?”

This was a question she could answer, the freed slaves (citizens from a secluded kingdom called Abhuria) had run her over the contents.

“Clothes and rugs, and some assorted fabrics.”

“Amounts?” The guard, which was more of an accountant, recorded on a thick ledger some notes. He raised an eyebrow.

Nakalia prepared to fudge a logical answer, not knowing the real answer off the top of her head, when one of the Abhurians rushed forward with a bundle of paper. 

“Here - an order receipt.”

The guard-accountant nodded slowly and waited to grab it, possibly to let the foreign words process and translate. Once he figured them out, he nodded upward curtly, and took the paper. Nakalia was lost on his translation confusion at first - she had barely had the translation charm for a day, and was already taking it for granted. The accountant read over the receipt, recorded numbers on his ledger, glanced over at the tied up slave driver, and confirmed the order.

He handed back the receipt, and bid her luck in the city.

“Welcome to Konya.”

 

#  **The Broken Horse Inn**

##  **Nightfall**

 

The past day or so had been a supreme up and down movement. First the terrifying confrontation with a literal god ( _definitely_ a low), the strange Guild of Interuniversals (kind of a low and a high), travelling, getting to Gamon, fighting a slave driver, the grueling task of getting into Konya - it was all enough to tire Nakalia, in spite of her relatively restless life.

Showers? They were definitely a high. 

She had the term mentioned back at the Observatory, but actually _using_ one was like a heavenly experience. She sat in the water like a happy frog in the rain for at least an hour, grateful to finally feel somewhat clean. Upon realizing that she had heard of the technology from one of the people from a (future?) alternative universe, she only felt happier about it. The cleansing room technology could only be more advanced in future universes.

Following the shower, Nakalia lay on the rough mattress in the room she had paid for. The blankets were thick and warm (albeit scratchy), and the room was decorated with naught but the bed, and a desk with a chair. Modest, but comfortable. Everything Nakalia needed.

Thoughts straying away from the shower, she sat herself up to retrieve the task list Celia had given to her. Unfolding the paper, her suspicions were thankfully confirmed: her first task in Gamon was to get to Konya. Simple enough. 

The next line, her clue, was beginning to form. Smudged letters read: “Retrieve the Eye of the Exanimate Beast.”

 _Exanimate?_ She asked herself, _What does that mean?_

Stepping away from that, she read over the line again. “Eye of the Exanimate Beast.” She had to get… an eye. It was capitalized in the sentence, which meant it probably wasn’t a literal eye - wouldn’t it be uncapitalized if so? She suddenly reflected on her decision to not read as often as she could have. Thinking back to _exanimate_ , she tried to break it down. _Animate_ meant to move, right? And _ex_ meant to take away, or something pertaining to that. So exanimate meant to not move? To take away movement? Eye of a beast that didn’t move… That did not make any sense whatsoever. What else did animate mean? She needed a dictionary.

A glance out the window reminded Nakalia it was getting late. Days and nights passed quicker here in Gamon, and so she had wanted to get to sleep around nightfall. She cleared the bed of her pack and the note, made herself comfortable in her cloak and the blankets, and called for sleep.

 

#  **Games District of Konya**

##  **The next morning**

 

Following a night of dreams about hot suns and endless deserts, Nakalia wanted nothing more than a cool shower. However, she didn’t take one; before getting in, she vaguely remembered that the water usage was fined. Instead she pulled on her clothes and her armor, made the bed, and exited the inn. When she went to pay for the room it was clear that the innkeep was confused by her choice of payment (very foreign, ancient copper coins), but he accepted it.

The first order of business would usually have been to find a way to communicate, but with the charms Celia had gifted her, that wouldn’t be necessary. She shifted to her next priority: finding somewhere in Konya where she could gain some leads on the exanimate beast. She figured that obtaining a better understanding of what “exanimate” could mean would be the most profitable thing to do first, and as such, Nakalia’s sights were set on a library. Spending hours crawling through books for instances of the word “exanimate” would be extremely unfavorable, so she was hoping for a dictionary or encyclopaedia, or something to that effect.

The Broken Horse was on a slight hill with several other inns, taverns, and such. The general area of the city where Nakalia started her investigation seemed to be very tourist-central - the aforementioned inns and taverns, as well as some museums and many game halls. Too many game halls, and too few libraries. Many of these enormous buildings flew grand banners of many bright colors, displaying dice, symbols, cards, doors, and daggers, in very much the same way a fortress displays their flags upon ballistas. Throngs of people were passing through, chanting and cheering in many different languages. The charm didn’t seem to be catching up with the many voices well, but of what Nakalia heard, the people were celebrating some form of holiday devoted to a card game. A jovial feeling was in the air - one that Nakalia might subscribe to if she could find a library, or somewhere similar. 

An hour or so of dodging through crowded streets lead Nakalia out of the game-tourist district into a more residential one. The buildings were smaller and became more singular houses, inns were fewer and what could be found were small, local shops popped up more. This part of Konya felt more rural, and she loved it. A few libraries even began to pop up - one of which contained the answer to her question. The first she visited was part of a closed church, and didn’t allow access. The next was a bookstore, with several volumes for sale, and others for reference in the back. One of these references was an encyclopaedia, containing no entry for exanimate, but entries for both ‘animate’ and the prefix ‘ex-’. Putting these two terms together was unsettling: If animate meant ‘alive’, and ex- meant ‘out of’ or ‘formerly’, exanimate roughly meant ‘formerly alive’.

The eye of the undead beast. Her second objective on the task list. Nakalia shuddered.

 

#  **Allium’s Atrium and Eatery**

##  **Sunset**

 

Of all the things Nakalia had endured throughout her travels, the strange horror of undeath was not one of them. She had encountered magic before, from small party tricks to astounding wonders, but the words “necromancy” and “resurrect” were some of the few terms she had heard cloaked in shadows. They suggested dark things, taunted her with their grim implications. The second half of Nakalia’s young life was spent with the Vine-people who believed in the power, ways, and natural order of things. They taught her that it was death’s duty to come, not something bad, just natural. Reversing that order was an act inexplicably treacherous. 

What kind of trial was this? Was the exanimate beast really undead, unalive? Or was the beast exanimate in the sense that it didn’t move? A statue of a beast, with something (a gem, for example) in its ‘eye socket’, or a pendant of a beast’s head with a painted eye? Recontextualizing the task and the goal reminded Nakalia that not only were there many possibilities for what the eye of the exanimate beast may mean, it also reminded her that such a task as hunting an undead creature would most likely not be within what the Guild would be willing to send their initiates into. After all, this scavenger hunt of sorts was a task for the Guild to assess Nakalia’s strengths - by no means would it be profitable for her to be traumatised or killed.

For perhaps the third time, a waitress wearing a white toga with purple lacings draping down from the shoulders approached Nakalia at the table she sat at. She had walked to the Eatery after the library for some relaxation among flowers and open air, but the thoughts of her task had plagued her too much for her to pay attention to the surroundings. Each time a waitress came by, she asked for more time. It didn’t seem she could wave that excuse now - the young woman was slightly frowning - but that was all fine, because now Nakalia could focus enough to order. She glanced at the menu and its delicate, gold designs of vines and birds, which beckoned her focus around the atrium. The main area of the atrium was on an open terrace, paved with white bricks. Hanging flowers dangled and wove in the breeze from the wooden lintels between pillars, birds fluttered back and forth from the overhead perches and stone bird baths. Nakalia took in the sight of the setting sun briefly before turning back to the waitress to finish ordering.

While her food was being prepared and the sun was setting, Nakalia took some time to meet around with other patrons at Allium’s, asking around for hints about places in Konya with depictions of beasts. She received very few answers; the closest thing to a lead for Nakalia being a grim reminder that the exanimate beast could very literally be an undead monstrosity: A stout man with a hunting bow slung across his back spoke in a slurred tone about packs of strange, unnatural wolves on the borders of Konya. 

By the time the waitress returned with Nakalia’s food (fried flat bread with fruit and a short flagon of silver wine) the sun had set in full, and lanterns illuminated the terrace. With the only lead referring to packs of large wolves, her spirits were at another low, even in the pretty atrium. The food came, a typical meal served in Konya according to the waitress. Even the food looked pretty here, and although it probably tasted wonderful, a sour feeling had settled in her, leaving the food more or less tasteless. The silver wine, which tasted much weaker than wines she had tasted in other universes, was bitter and smelled sour. The flatbread was a bit too hot when it was served, but she ended up waiting too long and when she did eat it, the bread was cold. She finished her meal with a simple thank you, a tossing of a few coins, and a shaky reassurance to herself that the exanimate beast wouldn’t be a creature of undeath.

Fate was smiling, but it wasn’t in her favor. 

Before she left the atrium, a taller man with a striking similarity to the shorter hunter came for Nakalia. He grabbed her, placing a single hand on her shoulder. His left eye was dull and glazed over, a bloodied bandage slung across the other. Similar bonds were wrapped around his left arm, beneath which a leather scabbard swung empty. 

“Asking about the skele-wolf you were? Whatever you’d call it? Askin about it you were? With those words in your mouth, don’t go walkin around, say I. It's not good, say I, leave it, I’d say. Under the stars she prowls, and blood she wants. Leave it. Leave it.”

She had long since shaken his grasp, but he continued speaking to her without moving it back or pausing. When he finished speaking, he absentmindedly drifted his hand to the scabbard, probably more on instinct than anything. When he realized the sheath was empty, he scowled and moved his hand away, and began to walk away.

“Leave it.”

#  **Southern Gate of Konya**

##  **The dead of night**

 

Nakalia stalked up a hill with a dozen or so other hunters that had been rallied up against the rumored pack of wolves. The outburst at Allium’s implied the exanimate beast was with a wolf pack, she faintly remembered hearing hunters campaigning to exterminate wolves outside of Konya, and she had put two and two together. Nakalia had met them at the gate. The gate had been closed, but the hunting group had a waiver of sorts from a city official to exit the city after-hours. Nakalia joined the party for permission out, but didn’t expect that she would stay with them long.

Most of the hunters were geared with imposing longbows, although others held crossbows, and something that looked sort of like a tube of wood and metal with a grip like a crossbow. One of the hunters had offered her a longbow, but she declined: she favored her whip, and didn’t know how to shoot. This was a rare interaction between the hunting group and Nakalia: she introduced herself to the group when she met them, dodged questions of her motives for hunting the wolves and her general purpose in Konya, and made that more or less the end of the conversation. She didn’t intend on staying with the hunters - too many questioning and dirty looks.

For the moment, however, she walked with the group of ten or so, dodging in and out of thickets of trees and clinging bushes. Nakalia and the hunters had exitted Konya through the southern gate, and they now were walking northwest, towards one of the inland seas. The closer the group came to the water, the thicker the vegetation became, until they walked beneath consistent foliage, not just pockets of isolated trees. This was the kind of environment Nakalia favored - in more vegetation, her cloak’s ability to conform to the environment was more useful.

Up ahead, some of the hunters screamed. Sudden twangs of bow string and snarls bit the air. It would seem Nakalia’s magical cloak’s ability was already becoming useful. She drew the cape around her, crouched in the underbrush and tried to stifle the bits of fearful anticipation. She was hoping that this late night excursion would be fruitless, that the exanimate beast wouldn’t be an undead wolf. It seemed so implausible and unreal, she couldn’t imagine how it could be real.

 _No time to worry_ , she thought to herself.

What followed was a horrid clash, sounds of tearing, slices and whistling arrows. Nakalia heard a few whines of slain wolves, but overall she heard much more the screams of men at the mercy of wolves. Teeth clanged against chain armor. Bowstrings snapped. Blood gurgled. Quick and efficient. More wolves flooded into the clearing, sniffing for survivors. Knowing the keen nosed predators would find her with ease, Nakalia stood up slowly, drawing her vine whip. She lashed the weapon upwards, not at wolves but to the branches in a tree above her. When she felt the whip grab onto the branches, she jumped up, pulling on the whip like a rope, grabbing onto branches once she ran out of whip. The wolves noticed her and they jumped up, snapping at her as she ascended. Their snarling mouths grabbed at empty air, coming menacingly close but altogether reaching nothing. With a dexterity she gained from her childhood, Nakalia jumped up the tree, expertly grabbing and selecting branches that advanced her higher while keeping her balanced. At the top of the tree Nakalia had a passable perception of the carnage. Wolves attacked from the North, coming from a denser group of trees farther from Konya. For a passing second Nakalia remarked on the quick transitions between types of vegetation - desert to savanna to marsh to thick forest. Forgetting the interesting terrain, she returned to scanning the hunt, which was turning out to be more like a battle between two opposing armies. The hunters were scrambled, but the wolves fought with efficiency, and organization, almost as if there was a central captain barking orders.

Nakalia walked from tree to tree, leaping across the branches, not bothering for stealth. Wolves congregated around the roots of the trees she traversed, but as she walked she noticed that less and less were pursuing her, opting instead to pick off the hunters on the forest floor. Nakalia followed the trail from where the wolves came from, and eventually the night returned to a quiet sort of peace. A large rock protruded from the trees in the distance. The sounds of battle cracked and slashed in the background, but there wasn’t any fighting where she was now. She scanned through the canopy, decided it was safe to return to the forest floor, and hopped down. The floor was scrambled with the tracks of running wolves - that was her direction. She tread lightly and silently, holding her whip out, ready to lash out at any enemies. From nowhere, two hunters appeared - scratched and bloody, but alive. She heard them mutter curses against the wolves, but Nakalia returned none of them. She didn’t reserve any harsh feelings towards the wolves - each one was almost certainly better than the cruel hunters. Nonetheless, they walked beside her into the forest. Safety in numbers.

They wandered for a while, the sounds of battle behind them. The paths widened, and the three gradually came into the environs of a sort of camp. Not a camp with tents or lamps, but still easily recognizable as a place where organised individuals met and lived. Paths led out into the wilderness, into little hovels, and into dens. Nakalia was eager to explore, but the hunters were searching more than wandering now. 

 _I should be doing that too_. She reluctantly reminded herself that she still needed the eye.

The first hunter, the one who Nakalia had seen with the strange weapon earlier, was leading the way. They turned corners, finding themselves in a path way with soft mews at the end. Nakalia felt a sense of horror bubble in her chest - the hunters had found wolf pups, and they were raising their weapons. 

She drew her whip instantly, pulling aside the second hunter by the neck. He screamed, and his weapon made a sound like fire finding loose oil, a bright flash of fire exploding from the shaft. The other hunter’s weapon went off as well as he turned around to face Nakalia. _Please let that have shifted his aim enough_. 

The pups went crawling, yelping and howling for help. Nakalia brought down her whip, dragging the hunter with it. The hunter still standing yelled at her, and brought his fists up to punch her.

“Defending oneself isn’t entirely unacceptable, but I won’t let you murder pups!” The hunter started to respond to Nakalia, but stopped when she landed her elbow in his gut. She unwound the whip from the second hunter, who lay gasping and coughing blood, and lashed out the whip at the standing hunter. It slashed him on the stomach and sent him on his rear. Stepping back to defend the helpless creatures, Nakalia raised her whip to challenge the hunters. 

A crash in the forest suddenly rang out, the sound of a large body shoving through underbrush. All three humans looked over to the source of the sound, as they did a blur of grey and red flew into the clearing.

Nakalia gasped in fear, the injured hunter groaned in pain, and the standing hunter growled in anger. Standing before them was a ghastly, skeletal wolf almost as tall as them. 

The monstrosity growled. Its bones were grey and brown, not rotted or broken but rubbed in with dry dirt and blood. Fresh blood stained its teeth, horrible fangs that shone as bare as the wolf's bone. Little flesh or organs clinged to the skeleton; instead of eyes, emotionless, indescribable, bright bulbs twitched slightly detached from its skull. They wavered and scanned the area without actually moving, shining electrically like the flashlights Nakalia had seen at the Observatory. A matted fur that looked much more like dirty carpet than hair tugged at the things ribs. The horrible thing growled - not the wet throaty sound like a living animal might make, but deep, dry, like the grinding of stones. A tooth necklace hung from its bony ‘neck’. 

_What did I do to be so damned by the Gods?_

Nakalia tried to suppress her fear, using the moment to try and walk back into a defensible position. The exanimate beast leaned downwards, protecting itself, then stood back up to full height. The standing hunter rushed forward with his weapon. He aimed the stick at the monster, which hopped forward and effortlessly knocked the weapon from his grasp. The other hunter adjusted (possibly loading, in a way) his weapon and began to walk forward. Nakalia stood idly by as the beast grabbed the first hunter by the neck, staring its unfeeling eyes into the eyes of the horrified hunters. 

Those frightening, bright eyes. They were obviously linked physically to the body of the wolf; would Nakalia have to pry it out? How could she subdue something that didn’t even seem to live?

Motivated by fear, the free hunter began to leave. The beast released the hunter in its jaws, who rushed away as fast as he could, blood freely flowing from his wounded neck. Nakalia faintly heard him collapse in the distance.

Unable to resist, she stared straight into the bulbs of the beast. Everything fled her vision but those horrible lights. She couldn’t hardly see anything anymore. 

No emotion, whether harsh or kind, shown in the lights, but the wolf’s posture suggested peacefulness. Nakalia noticed this change of standing, and risked a glance of the full body. A quick look became another stare - something hung at the tooth necklace.

A jewel. Red, rough but still multifaceted. Not a jeweler’s craft, but not something wrenched from raw stone. Something darker was encased within the crystal. The jewel looked suspiciously like… an eye…

The lights turned white, and the beast dropped its defensive stance. It cocked its head almost… curiously.

What came next almost worsened Nakalia’s night more than it had been already. Coming face to face with a nightmare was bad enough, but when that nightmare speaks…

“You came here with hunters, but defend the pups. You stand to defend yourself, but stare at my jewel instead of my movements.”

Nakalia had no aggressive intentions, but kept her whip ready nonetheless. The voice came out not harsh nor gravelly like the growl. Wolves, of course, didn’t naturally talk, and they definitely didn’t come back from the dead, but this one talked either way, and its voice wasn’t particularly unpleasant. Unexpected, yes. Chilling, most definitely. But it was feminine, sort of curious also. The beast was a _she_ not and _it_.

“Who are you?”

The question was unexpected, and while she of course knew the answer (Nakalia Damidandre, born a woman and raised by the vine-persons) there was simultaneously no way to answer the question as it was posed by the wolf.

“My name is Nakalia.”

The wolf advanced forward. Nakalia let her guard down slightly, but did not yield to the advances.

“It is interesting to meet you, Nakalia,” her name in the beast’s mouth sounded unnatural, it was pronounced strangely, “My name is Nyx. I am the leader of my pack.”

“All of those wolves are your pack?”

“Yes, they are.” 

“It’s like war out there.”

The beast made a sound that might have been a laugh.

“I suppose you could say that. Follow me.”

 

#  **The Moonrock**

##  **Midnight**

 

After organizing and helping the pups, Nakalia reluctantly followed Nyx through the camp to the tall rock she had seen from the trees. Along the way Nyx explained a few things about the camp, where the wolfpack stayed to organize and live. They were all committed to fighting back against humans from some place called the Panic-room - a place where many of the wolves came from, where humans who sounded to Nakalia like scientists were doing sinister things to the wolves. 

By now more wolves were returning from the battle. None seemed especially hostile, but many began to stand out as unnatural. Many were very large, some with spikes and horns, others with strange colors. A few of them regarded her with strange looks, but none of them would attack her - they were all undyingly loyal to Nyx. The wolf, hellish looking as ever, was a sagacious leader, kind to her subjects, and curious. She was solemn too, sad and worried. The wolves were very much at war, and for tonight it seemed they were on the losing side.

“Come, sit beneath the Moonrock with me, Nakalia.”

She did just that, and as she did she looked about the camp. The wolves milling around, performing the post battle jobs that gave the camp a lively yet eerie feeling. There was something Nakalia didn’t like about the crepuscular scene, but she figured it might look exciting if she still wasn’t frightened by Nyx’s countenance.

“What brings you with the hunters?” Nyx asked inquisitively. “As I said earlier, you don’t mean us harm, so what is your purpose?”

Nakalia knew the words to use to answer Nyx’s question, but didn’t entirely know how to phrase them. She instead started with the Guild and her tasklist, leaving the topic of her old family out. Along the way she found a way to explain she needed from Nyx. When she was done, the wolf nodded understandingly. 

“So you seek the jewel on my collar?”

“Yes. It seems to be an eye, and my task tells me to retrieve an _eye of the exanimate beast_.”

“And you think that means me?”

“Yes. I learned that _exanimate_ could mean undead, or like an undead.”

It laughed again. “I’m not exactly exanimate.”

Nakalia changed the subject.

“So, the eye. As I’ve told you, I need it greatly. I understand you wouldn’t value money, but perhaps there is something I can do for you?”

Nyx paused, her mechanical eyes swiveling. 

“Your assistance would be greatly appreciated… We do need help.”

“I am at your service if we can strike a deal.” Nakalia leaned forward.

“If that is a threat, then you’ll be sorry.” Nyx rose to her full height, which was a foot over the sitting Nakalia. The threat was baseless, but she had to repress a shudder at Nyx’s sudden vitriolic outburst anyway. Nakalia herself stood up, which may have not been much higher than Nyx but was high enough to be assertive.

“It isn’t a threat, it's a condition. I would love to help you and your pack in your war, but I have my own priorities as well. I need to prove myself in Gamon and advance in my quest, which requires that jewel. You and I can negotiate and find a way to help each other - but first we must establish a sense of diplomacy.”

“We’ll see.”

Nyx seemed uncertain. She didn’t seem to enjoy Nakalia very much, and that distrust had her on edge. The beast acted erratic, she could pounce at any moment. And Nakalia would be trapped in a war camp populated entirely by staunch wolves when she did. Not a great outcome.

“What may I help you with?”

“The hunters have taken some of our pups. These hunters were different from the ones that came tonight. These were from the Panic-room. We’re leading an assault on the Panic-room tomorrow night.” As Nys spoke, she stood up and prowled up to the tall rock face called Moonrock. She howled: long, booming across the camp. Tired wolves shook off sleep and pawed out to the stone, sitting before it. They howled along with Nyx, many of them leaping into the air, and after howling they sat at attention. Nakalia sat and watched.

“Members! I’m sure you’re all aware that we are to raid the Panic-room tomorrow. But because of the hunters’ cowardly attack our plan will be pulled back by a few nights. During the raid, three hunters broke from our ranks and attacked our pups. This is a horrible attack on us, and we need time to recover. As soon as we can, we will march upon the Panic-room. I thank you for all of your strengths.”

Wolves howled at the mention of the attack, but cheered at the assurance of a raid. 

“Joining our camps tonight is a newcomer - a human.”

Discourse erupted within the wolves. None seemed interested at the prospects of sharing a camp with a human - the humans were those who regularly killed and attacked the tribe. Her presence was contentious, it was fuel for a wildfire.

“Quiet! Calm down my friends!” Nyx howled to the wolves, “This human has helped us. Do not fear her - she helped protect our pups.” The wolves calmed down more now, but many still muttered and growled in protest. Nakalia didn’t calm much either - there was no doubt that defending the human woman was more of a formality than anything.

“She had pledged to help us during the raid, she is on our side.” As Nyx said this, more and more wolves stopped growling and began to actively listen more.

“She will be staying here tonight, and likely leaving for her travels after the raid. Treat her as our own.”

This line riled the wolves up again. Defending their pups or not, a human _was not_ their own. More threatening growls erupted within the wolves, but this time Nyx did nothing to stop them.

The monstrous wolf leaped down from the Moonrock, landing at its base. Her eyelights, now shining a dark purple, dug into Nakalia’s own eyes like a sword.

“Welcome to the pack.”

 

#  **Environs of the Camp**

##  **Sunset, three days later**

 

Three dreary days and two frightful nights passed. Nakalia faced hateful looks, every single wolf staring at her as if her very existence was ignominious, unforgivable. As if adjusting to life with wolves - many of which bearing unnatural features - was hard enough, she also had to deal with the constant feeling of hate, so impersonal and unflinching. She was innocent, she had helped the wolves and was going to continue doing so! This did nothing, however, to prevent the prejudice against her.

No wolves had mauled her in her sleep. Nyx had not sent her away. She was still alive, and headstrong in her decision to go to the Panic-room. What other choice did she have?

Thirteen wolves and one determined human stood in a line. Nyx prowled down the ranks, stopping to give each wolf their directions. After directing each soldier, she placed her paw before them, saying “We honor your bravery.”

When the wolf got to Nakalia, her words were less cold, but the eyelights would always give her the feeling of indifference.

“Stay in the front. Help coordinate the attacks. Show no mercy.” Nyx paused, perhaps considering her words.

“We honor your bravery.” she finally said.

Nyx turned curtly, and hopped over to the Moonrock. Perched at the top, she gave a quick announcement that the raid group was leaving. They cheered in approval, Nyx hopped back down again, and the raiders began moving through the forests. 

The raiders moved quickly, starting southwards. The wolves maintained a quick jog pace, which Nakalia found was difficult, but not impossible, to keep up with. She began to fall behind a few times, each time remembering Nyx’s instructions and using that as motivation to draw on further ahead. The pack couldn’t move too fast, the growth was too thick, but she was sure that they would go faster if they could, irregardless of Nakalia’s ability to keep up.

 _I am getting as far away from here as soon as possible_. The thought cheered her up.

_And I’m getting another damn shower._

 

#  **The Panic-room**

##  **An hour later**

 

The run to the Panic-room wasn’t very long, it seemed, just about an hour if Nakalia’s senses were correct. They arrived at a tall fence made of metal wire with barbs. Apparently (probably another electricity marvel) the fence gave off sharp bolts of fire to those who came in contact with it. Nyx told her this, and the path slinked around in the darkness until they came to a tunnel dug beneath the fence. One by one, with Nyx leading and Nakalia right behind as ordered, the raiders crawled through the tunnel into the grounds of environs of the Panic-room. No shocks, no guards, no wounds: good progress.

“The building isn’t heavily guarded, our worries are inside of the Panic-room. We can advance now - follow.”

Halfway across the grounds, six wolves broke off in two packs of three, flanking around. Nakalia stayed with the rest, which was being led by Nyx. At the front doors Nyx and another wolf went to force it open, but Nakalia instead jumped forward to get the doors. They were locked strangely, definitely future technology. She pressed the tip of her whip to the keyhole.

 _Go, my companion. Find the mechanics, open for us_.

She felt the whip respond. The living vines obeyed, and in a matter of seconds the door knobs clicked - open.

Nyx, Nakalia and the wolves ran in. The beast looked at her - with approval, she didn’t know.

“This is where we split. Night-cloud and Sharptalon will lead you to the pups. I will take Eclipse and the others to see if there are more wolves to free.”

Nakalia recognized no names, but nodded anyway. She followed the wolves who didn’t go with Nyx, dodging down corridors. Twice they reached doors with pads of numbers - these Nakalia couldn’t unlock, but the wolves could force. 

The wolf in front (presumably Night-cloud) burst threw the last door, rolling to his feet and snarling. Sharptalon followed suit, Nakalia entered last, drawing her whip and a dagger. Glowing pods were lined up along two walls, with the faint shapes of wolf pups floating inside. At the back of the room a human in a white coat was holding something black. Nyx’s words echoed in Nakalia’s head: _No mercy._

Nakalia wrapped the dagger around with her whip, drew it back and threw the vine forward. The dagger left the vine whip and blinding speed, finding a home in the human’s chest. Night-cloud tossed the dagger back to Nakalia as the wolves began to take the pups from their strange containment.

She marched out to the hallway to keep guard. A few moments passed peacefully, but eventually a loud noise began to blare. Red lights flashed above the doorways. She may not have known what the tech was, but she did know that their cover was blown.

To confirm this, a human wearing dark clothing walked through the far door. He bore a similar weapon to the hunters Nyx had killed the other night - those sticks that made explosions.

Nakalia recalled this and instinctively ducked. Sure enough, a loud _bang_ sounded, the corridor lit up yellow for a split second. She immediately jumped back up, using her whip to hurl her dagger into his chest. He staggered, dropped his weapon, but didn’t stop. Stunned by the ineffectiveness, Nakalia awkwardly gripped her whip and tried to lash at the guard. The closed environment didn’t help her, and the most damage she did was a slight lash. When it was clear this wouldn’t work, she dashed forward again, coiling up the whip for close use. The man reached down for his weapon, but once he pulled it up to aim Nakalia was on him, wrapping her whip around his forearm. She brought the limb down, dragging his body and face by extension right into her knee. She disarmed him by tossing the weapon back, and drew back to the wolves rescuing the pups.

“The guard’s down, let’s go!” 

Night-cloud nodded in response and bounded forward. Nakalia and the others followed.

Breaking free from the doors of the Panic-room, the group sprinted across the lawn towards the tunnel. Bangs and whines and screams filled the air. She slowed, and looked back to see Nyx and her group breaking through with more pups. They closed the distance much quicker than Nakalia’s group was able to.

Another shot rang out. A wolf carrying a pup from Nyx’s group fell. The guard lined up to fire the weapon again, Nyx went to grab the pup, a wolf from Nakalia’s group went to attack the guard. They wouldn’t get there in time. Was the guard aiming for the pup or Nyx.

 _No time to think_. Nakalia lashed her vine whip out, pulling Nyx onto her back. The shot went off - and hit neither the pup nor the now safe Nyx. The wolf (Eclipse, if Nakalia recalled correctly) lept upon the guard, spraying blood. Nyx grabbed the pup, and Eclipse came forward to help the injured wolf.

Nakalia and Nyx’s groups funneled through the tunnel, followed in a few seconds by the other two groups. They jumped away into the forest, running back for camp.

More shots rang out, piercing the night. None found a mark.

Nakalia and the wolves were gone, back into the darkness.

 

#  **The Moonrock**

##  **Next morning**

 

Nakalia sat eating some of her rations (She passed on raw deer) at the base of the Moonrock. Nyx hopped down from the stone face after morning announcements. She had neglected to announce the success of the raid last night - they had arrived too late. Instead, Nyx opted to let the warriors get their rest.

The morning had gone relatively well. Once her bravery was established, Nakalia got fewer threats from wolves, although they certainly still existed. She didn’t care, her work was over.

Nyx padded over to where Nakalia sat.

“You did well,” she said after sitting down, “But you could make your attempts at saving your comrades more obvious.”

Nakalia’s heart pounded. She had worried whether Nyx would see that as help or an assault.

Nyx might have seen this worry, and chuckled. “Do not worry. I understand you saved my life, and probably Audrey’s too.” Nakalia nodded. She was tired, at a loss for words.

Nyx raised her head.

“You may take the jewel. You have proved your worth to the pack - the raid may never have ended as successfully without your help.”

She reluctantly grabbed the jewel from Nyx’s collar, and pocketed it.

“Where are you going next?” Nyx asked, getting up.

Nakalia knew her exact answer, but telling the wolf she wanted human civilization again may not have been the best idea.

“Out of the forest. Nowhere really, not until I know what my next task is.”

Nyx nodded again. “I wish you luck on your travels.” She bowed her head at Nakalia and placed her paw forward. 

“Your bravery was impeccable, and greatly needed in that raid. Rest easy knowing you have done the pack a favor, and you will be remembered as a savior.”

Nakalia stood up, ready to leave. She wasn’t entirely sure about that last statement, but thanked Nyx anyway.

“We honor you for your bravery, Nakalia.”

“It’s my honor. Thank you for helping me.”

 

#  **The Broken Horse**

##  **Sunset**

 

Nakalia returned to Konya at an hour or so before noon, spent the hour until noon in the lines getting into the city, and made straight for the inn. She could have started her next task immediately, but some down time was in order. A downtime, and yes, a shower.

She spent more than two hours lying spread eagle in the warm water. When she eventually left she would be fined two gold coins for water usage, but she didn’t care. This was heaven.


End file.
